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by Nakkolackal V. L. Eapen, Austin, TX
Both Zachariah and Mary are recipients of God's message. Angel Gabriel is the celestial messenger, and the messages he brings are uniquely of great promise for the future.
Zachariah HEARS the message with a pinch of salt. He lacks the faith to believe that 'with God, everything is possible'. Zachariah reasoned that Elizabeth is past the age to conceive, and he himself is too old to be a father. His inability to 'take God at His word' leads him to be dumb until his son's birth. Being foolish, he learns from his own bitter experience. Disbelief kindles divine wrath.
Mary, on the other hand, RECEIVES the message, and willingly submits herself to it. Her words reveal who she is, "The handmaid of the Lord;" and she delights in being so. She has therefore NO difficulty in 'taking God at His word', for which she has been acclaimed "Blessed", thenceforth, by ALL succeeding generations.
'Taking God at His word' is alien to the current Secular Humanistic way of thinking that doubts even the 'Virgin Birth' and the 'Resurrection'. Secular Humanism is part and parcel of God's plan for the 'end times'.
May the Blessed Mary be our role model to see us through this turbulent troublesome age. The word of the Lord will abide for ever regardless of what the Secular Humanists profess in their ungodliness and ignorance.
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